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Theoretical Perspectives4. Interpersonal interaction

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORYMichaelmas 2020

Dr Michael Biggs

conflict

harmony

image of social order

individual

situation

macrolocus of

explanation

naturalistichermeneutic

epistemology

(1) Rational choice

(3) Values & meaning

(2) Evolutionary psychology

Introduction

Social life comprised not of individual actions (lecture 1) but rather social situations• even solitary individuals are recalling/rehearsing situations;

virtual situationsLecture 3: individuals act according to evaluations embedded in

meaningful worldviews; explanation by value and meaningAre values/meanings really individual?Values <=> social approval/esteem

‘there is no stronger means of breeding traits than through the necessity of holding one’s own in the circle of one’s associates. … The Puritan sects put the most powerful individual interests of social self-esteem in the service of this breeding of traits.’(Weber 1906/1920)(approval most potent in social situations)

Interaction => self

G.H. Mead• ‘The self, as that which can be an object to

itself, is essentially a social structure, and it arises in social experience’ (1934)‘the “me” of introspection is the same “me” that is the object of the social conduct of others’ (1913)

• ‘We are continually following up our own address to other persons by an understanding of what we are saying’ (1934)• thinking is internalized conversation

Symbolic interaction: emphasizes shared meanings; ethnographic method• e.g. Howard Becker (1973) on marijuana

Goffman’s interaction ritual• ‘two or more individuals are physically in

one another’s presence’ (1983)• social system with life of its own

• individual is ‘the peg on which something of collaborative manufacture will be hung for a time’ (1959)

• unlike symbolic interaction: appearance not discursive meaning; deception and manipulation not consensus

• proliferation of terminology

Focused interaction

Situation makes intricate demands on participants (which we take for granted)

• Deference to situation/individuals

• presentational rituals• sometimes avoidance

• appropriate level of involvement• deference only overt

• terminating an encounter may be difficult• Demeanour—what people give off

• differs for front v back stage• individual needs preparation to put on front

Situational breakdown

Error: “in wrong face”• face: image of self that is supported by other participants• face-work: shaping action to be consistent with face

(including helping others)Profanation: deliberate violation of rules, disruption of

performancePersistent failure = mental illness

Unfocused interaction

Even ‘alone’ in public places, we perform …

• civil inattention• glance towards, looking away

• violations: hate stare• waiting for someone

• study watch, search up and down

Example: smoking (Collins 2004)

• chemistry/biology insufficient

• smoking as tool in interaction rituals: relaxing, carousing• cigarettes driven by upper-class women demonstrating

elegance (cigarette holders/cases, jewels)

• men adopt cigarettes to mingle with women; tool for opening an encounter

• sharing cigarette/light as reciprocal gift exchange

• keeping your hands occupied; subordinate involvement

Problems• Individual disappears; merely a succession of masks

• ‘Self … is not an entity half-concealed behind events, but a changeable formula for managing oneself during them’(1974)

• focus on strangers: ‘a personal relationship can be defined as a coalition between two players to provide each other with expressions of the existence of a desirable bond’ (1974)

• where is the motivation? (surely pride/shame?)• No explanation of individual trajectories

• ‘encounters in which the “impressions” subjects make during the interaction affects their life chances’ (1983)

• Collins (2004): individual maximizes emotional energy, gained from successful situations

• No analysis of historical change/cultural variation• universal grammar of situations

Virtues

• co-presence is the stuff of social life; everyday interactions (usually taken for granted) need explaining

• material as well as discursive• student evaluations of lecturer (> 30 hours) predicted

(r = .76) by 30-second video clips without sound (Ambady & Rosenthal 1993)

• close scrutiny can surprise, e.g. Collins (2008) on violence

conflict

harmony

image of social order

individual

situation

macrolocus of

explanation

naturalistichermeneutic

epistemology

Goffman

symbolic interactionist

QUESTIONS• ‘Society is not an aggregate of individuals nor a macro-level

structure; it is a series of face-to-face encounters.’ Discuss.• Does the method of ethnography entail any theoretical

commitments?

• Goffman treats the individual as ‘the peg on which something of collaborative manufacture will be hung for a time’. How useful is this approach for explaining face-to-face interaction?

• What situational rules constitute the Oxford tutorial?

• How does digitally mediated interpersonal interaction differ from face-to-face copresence?

• ‘Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) failed to supplant conventional university lectures, despite providing higher quality for lower cost. This proves the importance of face-to-face copresence.’ Discuss.

Max Weber, ‘The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism’ (1906/1920), From Max Weber, ed. H. H. Gerth & C. Wright Mills

George H. Mead, ‘The Social Self’, Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods 10 (1913)

George H. Mead, Mind, Self, and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist(1934)

Herbert Blumer, Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method (1969)Howard Becker, ‘Becoming a Marihuana User’, American Journal of Sociology 59

(1953)Howard Becker, Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance (2nd ed., 1973)Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959)Erving Goffman, Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behaviour (1967)Erving Goffman, Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience

(1974)Erving Goffman, ‘The Interaction Order’, American Sociological Review 48 (1983)Philip Manning, Erving Goffman and Modern Sociology (1992)Nalini Ambady & Robert Rosenthal, ‘Half a Minute: Predicting Teacher Evaluations

from Thin Slices of Nonverbal Behavior and Physical Attractiveness’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64 (1993)

Randall Collins, Interaction Ritual Chains (2004)Randall Collins, Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory (2008)